Struggling for change: Popular revolts in the Maghreb and Middle East

The Maghreb and the Middle East live in times of great social and political upheaval. Winds of change are blowing in the Arab World. In Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco - among others - the people, particularly the young, the unemployed and the workers take to the streets and squares demanding jobs, social rights, better conditions of life, liberty, democracy and peace.

The major Western powers - especially the United States and the European Union - move between the inevitable recognition of popular demands and the protection of dictators, faithful guardians of their interests in the region.

Inseparable from the international crisis, the deep social attacks and setbacks that characterize it and the instability of the international situation, the events in this region of the globe already have an impact and importance that goes far beyond the national and regional boundaries.

To analyze the impact of this wave of struggle and hope that runs through the Arab world, MPPM, CGTP and CPPC joined in organizing a public debate of solidarity with the people struggling in the Arab World and of analysis of current events. It took place at the Casa do Alentejo, in Lisbon, on February 18, and intervened Rui Namorado Rosa, President of the CPPC; Carlos Carvalho, director of CGTP-IN; Frei Bento Domingues, director of the MPPM; José Manuel Rosendo, journalist and Adel Sidarus, director of the MPPM.

(MPPM is the Portuguese Movement for the Rights of Palestinian People and Peace in the Middle East; CGTP-IN is the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers; CPPC is the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation)